Nagahama



Nagahama (長浜市) is a city in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site, jointly with adjacent Maibara City.

By plane
Nagahama (or Shiga Prefecture more generally) is not well served by airports. While the nearest airport is Nagoya-Centrair, Osaka's two airports (Itami and Kansai) are at least as convenient, if not more.

Travelling from Centrair or Kansai Airports to Nagahama is basically a case of taking a train towards Nagoya or Osaka respectively and then continuing on as described below. Two morning Haruka trains run direct to Kansai Airport from Maibara, returning in the evening.

From Itami, the best option is to take a bus to either Shin-Osaka or Kyoto station, and continue from there on the train.

By train
Nagahama is served by two trains per hour to Maibara (10 minutes, ¥200), the nearest Shinkansen station. These are in fact Special Rapid services, which offer a fast direct service to many places in Kansai.


 * Ōmihachiman: 36 minutes, ¥670
 * Ōtsu: 1 hour, ¥1140
 * Kyoto: 1 hour 10 minutes, ¥1320
 * Osaka: 1 hour 40 minutes, ¥1940
 * Kobe: 2 hours 10 minutes, ¥2590
 * Himeji: 2 hours 40 minutes, ¥3670

Note that these trains usually run as 12-car trains to Maibara, but only the front 4 (or sometimes 8) cars continue to Nagahama, so make sure you travel in the front part of the train.

Taking the Shinkansen to Maibara, times and prices are as follows:


 * Tokyo (using Hikari): 2 hours 40 minutes and ¥12,400
 * Nagoya: 1 hour, ¥3740
 * Kyoto: 40 minutes, ¥3570
 * Shin-Osaka: 1 hour, ¥4940

Note that Shinkansen trains which stop at Maibara usually do not go west of Shin-Osaka.

Nagahama is also served by six Shirasagi Limited Expresses a day between Maibara and Kanazawa, of which three continue beyond Maibara to Nagoya. Taking these, times and prices are as follows:


 * Kanazawa: 1 hour 40 minutes, ¥5700
 * Fukui: 1 hour, ¥3360
 * Tsuruga: 27 minutes, ¥1940
 * Gifu: 50 minutes, ¥2670
 * Nagoya: 1 hour 15 minutes, ¥3190

Additional trains pass through without stopping, which require you to change at Maibara or Tsuruga.

If avoiding Limited Expresses, allow 1 hour 5 minutes and ¥670 to reach Tsuruga. During the day, trains run only once an hour, and you may have to change at Ōmi-Shiotsu. Nagoya is 1 hour 40 minutes away and ¥1490 by Local and Rapid trains; you will need to change at Maibara, and sometimes Ōgaki.

As an alternative to the Japan Rail Pass, Nagahama is covered by JR West's Kansai Area Pass, the Kansai WIDE Area Pass, the Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, the Sanyō-San'in Area Pass, and the Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass, which are available to Temporary Visitors with foreign passports. None of these passes cover the Tōkaidō Shinkansen (east of Shin-Osaka). Nagahama is also covered by the Hokuriku Arch Pass: this allows travel from Tokyo but only the long way round via Kanazawa, a journey that will take no fewer than 5 hours.

Get around
Most of Nagahama's tourist destinations and hotels are within easy walking distance of the station.

By bus
There are buses available, but they are mostly used by locals to commute to places on the outskirts of the city proper.

By taxi
There are veritable hordes of taxis just waiting for your patronage outside the station, should you need to get somewhere a bit farther away.

By bike
Bikes can also be rented, but you would need to speak Japanese to do this. The bike rental place is located near the west exit of the station.

By ferry
Ferries connect Nagahama to the island of Chikubu in Lake Biwa.

Buy
Nagahama is famous for its glass art. There are many places in Kurokabe Square to see, buy, and even learn to make glass art! The following are two of the more well-known ones.

Go next

 * Takashima
 * Maibara
 * Hikone
 * Omihachiman
 * Tsuruga
 * Sekigahara
 * Ogaki
 * Otsu
 * Kyoto